With box office earnings hitting upwards of RMB 1.3 billion, it appears Malaysian director Sam Quah‘s psychological thriller A Place Called Silence 默殺 is well on its way to being the 2nd top grosser among China’s summer movies this 2024. While it’s still far from the top placer, Shen Teng and Ma Li’s comedy film Successor 抓娃娃, which has hit RMB 2.7 billion in an otherwise lacklustre summer box office, but the film has come a long way, especially after almost getting cancelled.
Reshoot and Release
#MeToo accusations had surfaced against Jag Huang who was the film’s lead actor in the original. That the film still managed to make its way to the big screens now is all thanks in part to Sam’s girlfriend, Taiwanese actress Janine Chang, also known as Ning Chang, whose NT$ 5 million investment did a great deal to ensure a reshoot. Originally, the film was in fact already completed. However, plans for a Chinese release had to be axed after MeToo allegations against Jag surfaced in 2023 (though his accuser issued an apology a year later). This was quite unfortunate as the film was also supposed to showcase Sam Quah’s work as a screenwriter, this being the very first one he wrote since going into showbiz.
Janine Chang Chun Ning with the Malaysian Director
With all his hard work about to go down the drain, Janine came up with the solution to invest NT$ 5 million into the project just so they can recast the whole film and reshoot in Malaysia. Janine Chang also took on the role of the female lead which was originally played by Ivy Yin.
Sam Quah is a 39-year-old Malaysian filmmaker who studied film in Taiwan. After dating rumours continued to swirl between them, the 41-year-old actress and her director boyfriend finally went public with their relationship last year.
A Place Called Silence is a chilling murder mystery at a Malaysian high school that revolves around Tong, a speech-impaired girl bullied by her classmates, her mother who’s the school janitor and the police looking into the case. It stars Wang Chuanjun, Ning Chang, Hong Kong star Francis Ng and child actress Wang Shengdi.
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